Surrogate
by Neuralger
Summary: Pearl cannot bring herself to forgive the beast that stole Rose's life. If hating Steven is her grief, learning to love him is learning to cope.
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY: _Pearl cannot bring herself to forgive the beast that stole Rose's life. If hating Steven is her grief, learning to love him is learning to cope._

Beach City Hospital's postnatal ward's atmosphere threatened to overwhelm Pearl, resident brain of the Crystal Gems. For a species for whom obnoxiousness came as easily as breathing, babies somehow managed to be particularly annoying: shrill, whiny, and disgustingly biological. She couldn't help but liken them to Amethyst, her perennial nemesis, and the thought made her want to retch. Being penned in by these howling creatures was not improving her already-sour mood.

The source of all her misfortune, a certain Greg Universe, seemed to be the only one of the group unperturbed by what she could only describe as a 'murder' of children. He was busying himself with a cradle in the centre of the room, where the noise and the smell seemed to congregate thickest, and she crossed her arms as she watched him fuss and coo over the most horrid little beast of the lot.

The thought that within her reach was the greatest foe the Crystal Gems had ever faced, not some mighty monster or fearsome predator but a simple and defenseless human child, and there was nothing she could do about it, was frustrating. The baby wasn't even a threat in any conventional sense of the word; the only danger it posed was to itself, but that thought did not stop her from wishing it would choke on its own incessant burps.

How very morbid. Pearl stifled a small giggle, careful to lower her head and pretend she'd made no sound.

"Hey," drawled Amethyst beside her, looking equally as bored as Pearl felt. "Can we go home now? Even I'm feeling a little grossed out by these tiny people."

"And we all know Amethyst is the queen of all things revolting," Pearl added, slightly smirking. Amethyst snorted, hands fidgeting behind her back, but kept her mouth shut otherwise. Pearl was grateful for that, if nothing else.

Something about the tiny humans, whether their smell, their soft and frail flesh, or even the innocent smiles on their sweet, pudgy little faces, put her off. Gems were created with a full body of knowledge and an intimate understanding of the intricacies of human nature (or Gem nature, rather). She would be the first to claim naivete was alien to them, and children, incarnations of humanity's good nature, made her feel even more out of place on the alien planet.

Their _de facto _leader, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by their complaints or their circumstances. Her eyes were for the little devil only, as she stood over the other side of the cradle, utterly transfixed by its peaceful sleeping face. In a way, that scared Pearl the most. Garnet had idolised Rose as her leader and friend, and both Pearl and Amethyst similarly looked up to Garnet. For Gems, such breaks in the chain of command were almost unprecedented, and now, Pearl, out of her element and her depth, felt more lost and alone than ever before.

Rose Quartz had imposed sense and order on the chaotic world of Earth. She'd mothered them, guided them, and made them brave. Now she was gone.

The sound of the baby laughing startled Pearl out of her thoughts. More startling, though, was the way Garnet smiled and reached out to the baby, gently caressing its face as though she understood some cosmic truth no one else grasped. When little Steven Quartz Universe reached back, closing a tiny hand around Garnet's massive index finger and nibbling on it like some sort of snack, Pearl felt something flare up inside her like never before.

"So when do I get to take him home?" Greg said nervously, scratching his crown. "I mean, I'm a travelling musician, money's tight, you know how it is."

"Of course, sir," was the nurse's response as she milled through the ward, pen scratching away at the clipboard she held. Pearl was entranced by the grace and discipline of her movements as she attended to the infants, as though they had been practiced over many, many years. "You must be very tired. I'm sorry to hear about your wife."

"Yeah," Greg replied, nodding. Pearl felt no sympathy for him. "With Rose gone," he paused to choke back what Pearl could have sworn was a sob, "I'm feeling pretty blue. It'll be nice to get to know my new little buddy."

Pearl watched him lean down to plant a kiss on the baby's forehead. It mystified her that Greg could be so fond of the little brat who stole his wife, especially when said brat did none of the things she'd read made babies so captivating. He didn't cry, he didn't bite, he didn't pull or poke or pinch at all. He didn't do much of anything, really, beyond just lying there in his crib, quiet and unassuming until you paid attention to him. Then he'd smile and laugh, Rose's laugh, and it only served to drive the point of his mother's sacrifice home.

"Hey, Pearl!" cried a voice from the doorway, prompting the babies to worsen their chorus of wails. Pearl covered her ears as Amethyst sauntered over, sheepish but otherwise her same old unrepentant self. She gestured towards the doorway and grinned. "Wanna go down to the waiting room and pretend we've got the smallpox?"

"No!" Pearl said, grimacing. "It wasn't funny fifty years ago and it isn't funny now!"

"Sheesh, what a killjoy," sighed the other Gem, as Garnet stomped past her and dragged her away. "You're never any fun!"

"Excuse me, ma'am, but can you lower your voice?" the nurse hissed, hustling after the other two Gems with Greg in tow. "There are children sleeping in here!" From a distance, Pearl could make out some sort of muffled groan as the doors to the ward swung shut.

Leaving her fortuitously alone with the baby.

She longed to finally look it in the eye, face to face. Rose's actions and the nigh-impenetrable reasoning behind them had been weighing on her mind for so long that all she could think of now was this encounter. Perhaps, she mused, she could dispose of the child in secret, and, with a little luck, free Rose from the confines of the gem embedded in his stomach.

With that grim thought in mind, Pearl made her way through the rows of cribs.

The room almost seemed to fall silent, background noise melting away into amenable quiet as she approached Steven's cradle and leaned over its head to look her grudge in the eye. The knot forming in her throat tightened as she lifted him up out of the bed and into her arms, cradling him between them as gently as she could.

"Shush," she whispered, placing a single finger tentatively on his mouth. He stared back at her, eyes wide and shining, and together, for a few moments, they shared a personable impasse.

Then he croaked, and started laughing.

It rang too much of Rose's laugh: throaty, halting and reassuring, in a way that reverberated through her core and filled her with light. She shuddered, baby clasped tightly in her arms, and clutched even tighter when she felt the predictable tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

"Is it so wrong to want her back?" Pearl whispered, craning her head forward. "Is it so wrong to hate you for taking her away from us? We can't go on without Rose. What's the point..."

Her grip tightened. Steven squeaked, but otherwise made no sound, and Pearl carried on, absorbed in her grief.

"Why did you take her away from us? It's all your-"

Quite without warning, Pearl felt a curiously comforting touch on the point of her nose. Her eyes briefly focused, blinking back tears, to find Steven reaching up to her, still smiling that goofy smile as he patted her on the only part of her face he could reach. Something inside her swelled in response, and she tamped it down, trying her best to hold on to her anger.

Her eyes closed, and she forced the smile forming on her face into something resembling a frown.

"Fault," she continued, so sharply that it burst the bubble of anticipation surrounding them, and the cacophony of infant screams resumed, worse than ever. It amazed her that in her arms Steven remained placid, staring up at her the way, she remembered, she'd used to stare at Rose.

"I despise you," she said, glaring into his beady little eyes. "I swear I will never forgive you."

When the Gems came back to find her an hour later, they were surprised to find her still in the ward, crouched by Steven's crib, idly stroking his face as he slept, a foul expression plastered on her own.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for your kind responses. "Surrogate" will continue as a multi-chaptered fic, for your pleasure. Please continue to favourite, follow and review; compliments are manna for a writer._

"Greg."

Pretending he hadn't heard, Greg Universe, newly-minted proprietor of the Mr. Universe Car Wash, continued digging around his old storage shed, hands scrabbling at whatever they could find. Greg seemed blissfully unaware of the wobbling stack of crates perched precariously on his right, threatening to come tumbling down on his head, and Pearl sighed. Already she was tired of this frustrating day and it had only just begun.

"Greg?"

"Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute, Pearl," he muttered through the torch gripped in his teeth. Pearl slapped her forehead, despair setting in, and knelt down to get a look at whatever it was he was trying to search. It didn't help.

"Greg! Can you please pay attention?"

With a yelp, the portly man jumped, upsetting the cluster of boxes around him. Pearl watched in awe as, in what felt like slow-motion, they all rained down on his head, burying him beneath years and years of hoarded up junk.

"Thanks a lot, Pearl," a muffled voice grumbled from beneath the junkpile. "Can't you just, I don't know, go fight monsters or something? Anywhere other than here!"

An arm burst out of the wreckage, followed by another arm, then a head, and finally, like some sort of garbage phoenix rising from the ashes of a hereditary hoarding problem emerged Greg, looking more sullen than she had ever seen him before. The effect was almost funny, and Pearl laughed unthinkingly, covering her mouth quickly when he glared daggers down at her.

"What do you even want?" Pulling himself from the mountain of junk, Greg sighed, brushing the dust from the front of his shirt before turning around to survey the damage. "Something in here? That light cannon thingie? Rose forgot to take it."

"What?" Pearl said, blanching. "No, I'm here to talk to you about the baby."

"Oh, Steven?" At that Greg's face brightened considerably. It left Pearl a little more nonplussed every time, and, quite frankly, she couldn't see the appeal.

"Yes, yes, there aren't any other babies, Greg." Waving her hand as dismissively as she could, she continued. "Once it's out of the hospital, what are you planning to do? I don't think a human child can grow up in the back of a van." The thought made her shiver, and not in a nice way.

"Oh!" Greg deflated visibly at that. "Well, I, uh, hadn't really thought about it all that much. I'm just happy to finally take him home, y'know?"

"It's not that I'm not," Pearl paused, searching for the right word, "happy for you." She wasn't. In fact, to describe herself as happy about Steven in any way felt like taking a punch to the gut from Garnet. She had a plan, though, and that plan needed Greg to see sense. "It's just that there's nowhere for Steven to live in Beach City, is there?"

"Huh." Greg rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You're right. I could take him to live with my parents in-"

"No!" Pearl cut him off, frantically waving her hands in the air. Greg leaving would scupper any plans she had of ridding the world of the baby and bringing Rose back, and she couldn't have that. "You can't leave!"

"Why not?"

The contemplative look on Greg's face made Pearl feel even more absurd.

"Because," she answered, drawing out the latter syllable, "Steven is a Crystal Gem. A Crystal Gem! Don't you know what that means?"

The look on Greg's face said enough about that. Again Pearl sighed, raising a birdlike hand to her face and placing two outstretched fingers on her brow. She really didn't need this.

"It means," and now Pearl spread her arms wide to emphasise the enormity of her next words, "he needs to stay here! With us! The Crystal Gems! In Beach City!"

She hoped that made sense. Having to explain to Greg that his son would not live a normal human life, whatever that was, wasn't an ordeal she wanted to face. Thinking about Steven was like treading on emotional coals; every step was a trial, and all of them led back to Rose.

"I get you," Greg said after a moment, "but I don't know about all this magic stuff. It's a bit out of my depth. Steven is my son, and he's growing up without a mom, and, you know, it's just kind of hard for me right now?"

"What's with the upwards inflection?" Pearl tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "Do you really think it isn't hard for everyone? You came here and took Rose from us-"

Pearl barely managed to stop before the rant started, fingers rubbing against her temples as she forced herself to calm down. The time for recrimination had passed, and she knew it, even if, in her heart, she couldn't bring herself to accept it.

"Sorry." Greg's sheepish grin didn't do much to ease her anger, but she quelled that thought. "I know you guys have it rough too. So what should I do?"

"I have an idea," Pearl said, raising an eyebrow as suggestively as she could manage. "Why don't you let us take care of Steven?"

At that Greg livened up, face flushing with sudden colour.

"What? No!" He was almost livid. "Steven's my little boy and I'm not leaving him with some strangers in their crazy magic house!"

"It's not like your tiny van is any better!" Pearl shot back. "What, are you going to keep him in the car wash? Let him shower with the super washer? As if!"

"At least I'm not throwing him in the lion's den!" Greg's hands balled into fists. Pearl's hackles raised in response, and instinctively she assumed an aggressive stance, stepping forward and poking him in the chest with her bony index finger.

"You listen to me," she snarled, only for Greg to cut her off mid-sentence, booming like a wakened beast.

"No, you listen to me! I trust Garnet, but I don't trust Amethyst and I certainly don't trust you." Pearl reeled back as Greg stomped forward in tandem, and Pearl could feel the cold, smooth side of Greg's van press against her back as he loomed forward, nearly pushing her against it. "I'm going to take my son home, and find a house, and we're going to live in it, because that's what Rose would want. And there is no way, ever, I'm leaving my boy with you!"

With that statement, brooking no further argument, Greg turned around and resumed searching. Pearl stood still for a moment, regaining her bearings, and watched the man as he crawled, on hands and knees, around the garage.

"What are you even looking for?" She yelled, slamming a fist against the van's driver side door.

"None of your business!" was the only reply she got before the door to the garage slammed shut, leaving her alone in the street, angry and upset.

* * *

><p>"Oh, hey, P," Amethyst shouted from the beachfront. Over the roar of the ocean waves and the salty sea spray she could taste on her lips, the seas whipped into a frenzy by the wintry weather, Pearl could make out the figure of Garnet tussling with a much larger beast. Occasionally, she heard a distant yell or roar. It was a little odd to find Amethyst, nearby, lazing around the pier, enjoying an ice-cream cone.<p>

"Is there a reason you're not helping her?" Incredulously Pearl pointed at the battling pair.

"Eh," Amethyst said, taking a bite out of the cone. "I'm not really feeling it today." Pearl sat down beside her and watched as Garnet beat the beast down, pausing to collect herself only when the creature exploded into thousands of points of sparkling light, leaving only its gem behind. She picked it up, bubbled it, and tossed it into the air, joining Pearl and Amethyst after the bubble disappeared.

"What was that?" Pearl quizzed, cocking her head to the side.

"Malachite," was all Garnet said in return, walking straight past the two sat on the ground and into the temple.

"Wow, what's her problem?" Amethyst said, snorting. The ice-cream in her hand dripped onto her shirt, and she huffed, wiping it down with her free hand.

"What's yours?" Pearl said, eyes narrowed. Lately Amethyst had been so off. Usually the other Gem never ran from a fight, but since Rose's passage she'd been even lazier and more apathetic than ever. It touched a nerve. "Most of the time you're spoiling for fights, but you just let Garnet take Malachite on alone?"

"Like I said," Amethyst muttered, taking another bite out of her disintegrating ice-cream, "Eh." Finishing it, she stood up, stretching her arms and yawning. Above her head the grey skies opened, and a flash of light heralded the beginning of a storm. "Plus, Garnet needs to let off steam. She's been really out of it ever since Rose died."

"Hey!" Pearl yelped, jumping to her feet. She felt like she could grab Amethyst by the scruff of her neck and just shake her until all the stupid fell out. "Don't say died! Never say died!"

"Whatever." Shrugging, Amethyst strolled away, heading towards the temple. Pearl stood still in the rain as it worsened, and she felt her wet hair sag flat against her head, her clothes drooping similarly.

She stood for a while, eyes downcast and heart glum, before a peal of thunder shocked her out of her reverie and had her running, hands on her head, into the temple. As the door closed after her, she sank to her feet, drenched in water, and whimpered.

It had not been a good day by any stretch of the imagination. First she'd failed to convince Greg to hand the boy over to them so she could study him, find out how to be rid of him, and return Rose to the group. Then she'd been ignored by a distant Garnet, half-heartedly ribbed by a passionless Amethyst, and caught in a horrible storm. No, it felt like the worst day of her life, and the thought that the rest were all going to be the same – devoid of Rose and devoid of purpose – made her want to cry.

Deep down, a part of Pearl understood what it was that made other Gems go mad and become corrupted. It longed to do the same; to abandon inhibition and embrace the freedom of a mindless, bestial life. In her heart, she was certain it would be easier than moving on, without Rose, empty and broken-

It was lucky that providence chose that moment to startle her with a knock on the door to her cloister of the temple. Standing up straight, she wiped away the tears in her eyes and brushed down her clothes, turning to face the temple door as it responded to her mental command and began to open.

Beyond it stood Greg Universe, beside Garnet and Amethyst, and in his arms was the bundle of suffering from which all her problems stemmed; little Steven Universe, swaddled in warm, dry cloth and radiating the same intense joy to see her that he had the last time they'd been together. It nauseated her (or, at least, that was what she told herself; it was the only explanation for the rush of emotion his little face brought on). How much time had passed, she wondered, for Greg to be able to retrieve the boy and bring him to the temple? The storm had stopped and now birds chirped all around, perched on the fingers of the temple's figurehead, a clear sky setting the canvas for a shining sun.

"Um," Greg said, hand rubbing the back of his head, "so I was thinking about our discussion earlier, and I thought, hey, maybe I said some things I shouldn't have. I know how close you guys were to Rose and I've been thinking so much about myself lately that I haven't really given all of you crazy magic ladies a second thought. So, yeah, I'm sorry. Am I rambling? I'm rambling, aren't I."

Next to him, Amethyst laughed heartily, slapping him on the back, and even the stoic Garnet cracked a small smile. Pearl did not share their enthusiasm.

"Anyway," Greg continued, "I thought, while I set up shop and try to find a real place for my little guy to live, maybe you guys could help me take care of him?" The last few words came out as a sort of squeak, Greg looking more contrite now than he had been actually apologising, and Pearl realised with no small measure of amusement that he'd come to them as a last resort. Everything was coming up aces. Pearl opened her mouth.

"Of course," Garnet interjected before Pearl could speak, and she shut it again in short order, feeling and likely looking more than a little stung. Amethyst's grin widened. "We will keep him in the temple."

"No!" Raising both hands in the air in the universally-understood gesture for 'stop, that's a terrible idea', Pearl quickly undercut the other Gem's suggestion with a better one of her own. "There's a little cave out here in front of the Temple. We'll build a place for the baby to live out here. The temple is far too dangerous for a human child."

Inwardly, she was giggling at the chance to dissect the child, but outwardly her expression remained stern.

"Pearl is right," Garnet said, laying a comforting hand on Greg's shoulder. She towered over the smaller man as she took the baby from his arms, cradling him only for a moment in her own before handing him to Pearl.

"Cool! I've never built a house before!" On that note, Amethyst bounded away. Greg waved, following her, and behind him, Garnet followed, stopping to nod at Pearl in approval.

In Pearl's arms, little Steven slept, and Pearl looked down at him, relishing the second chance. With luck, Rose would be back before they knew it.

It took a few minutes of rocking Steven to sleep before she realised she had no idea how to care for a baby.


	3. Chapter 3

_As always, your delightful responses continue to sustain me (I would most certainly die without them). Special thanks go out to author cooper klebba, who wrote the piece "The Great Pretender" as an ode to Surrogate. Check it out._

Pearl took a step back to admire her handiwork, brushing a week's worth of sawdust and splinters off her dainty white hands. Where beforehand naught had been but an empty cave and a lonely door to a grand magical temple now stood the greatest example of human ingenuity combined with Gem superiority she'd ever had the fortune of bearing witness to.

"It's a house." Garnet said, curtly summarising a thought to which Pearl would have paid ostentatious honour. "Let's move on."

The put-down made her huff a little. She'd spent a whole week slaving over every inch of what was to be little Steven's prison and making sure it was up to snuff, and part of her smarted at the knowledge no one but her understood how monumental a task it had been. From the research to the resourcing, and then the building itself, she'd given her all. Gems may not have been biological constructs, and therefore lacked in the requisite blood and sweat, but she'd definitely poured a great many tears into the project and now she felt entitled to preen a little in the reward of a job well done.

Garnet ignored her, walking carefully up the newly installed stairs, and Amethyst and Greg followed much more haphazardly, Amethyst taking the steps two to three at a time.

The others had been spending an inordinate amount of time with Steven in Pearl's absence and she felt ever so slightly jealous. Not of Garnet, obviously, but of Steven, who seemed to have begun monopolising her teammates' attentions ever since he'd left the hospital. Even the normally laconic Garnet had taken to lavishing the child and not in the aloof and cold way she treated Pearl and Amethyst most, if not all, of the time. It puzzled her that the others were so willing to invest themselves in a stupid human whose life would be over in the blink of a metaphorical eye for the nigh-immortal Crystal Gems.

At that moment, Steven was sleeping soundly in the crook of Garnet's arms and Amethyst, in trademark cat form, laid snuggled up next to him, purring. Pearl narrowed her eyes, threw the door open and tromped past them, seating herself at the breakfast bar she'd built as a kitchen countertop. She'd built! The nerve of them. They'd come to value her as a parental figure for Steven in time, and when they did, she'd finally be able to examine him at her leisure and 'figure' out how to get Rose back.

Giggling slightly at the silly pun, she watched the others enter the house, slightly mollified by their marvelling reactions.

"Wow, Pearl!" Amethyst gasped, clapping her cheeks in amazement, mouth hanging open ever so slightly. "You did a really good job! Didn't think you had it in you!"

"Nice work," Garnet added, examining the warp pad in the centre of the main room. Behind it stood the temple door, quiet and implacable as ever, and Garnet nodded at it, then Pearl, before turning towards the second set of stairs leading up into what Pearl had designated Steven's room.

"You even kept the warp pad!" Jumping up and down on the pad, Amethyst disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing moments later with a painting Pearl couldn't make out held under her arm. "That's so cool! I like this place. Are we going to live here too?"

"No," Pearl answered, shaking her head. "We will continue to live in the temple. After all, I couldn't hope to build a room big enough to store all your garbage." Pretending to retch a little for emphasis, Pearl quickly switched tacks, ignoring the other Gem's dark scowl. "May I ask what you're doing with that painting?"

"Oh, this?" Pearl couldn't have prepared herself for the shock of witnessing Amethyst blush if she'd been forewarned. She'd have been cute were she not still a gross, careless ingrate. "It's just a painting! I thought I'd hang it on the wall as a sort of house christening thing!"

"What is it?" Her curiosity piqued, she edged towards Amethyst, fingers trembling in anticipation, but as she nimbly lunged forward to snatch the painting out of Amethyst's grubby hands, the other Gem pirouetted away, holding it high above her head.

"Come on, Pearl! Stop being a baby!"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Garnet descended the stairs, no Steven in hand, completely unaffected by the two girls chasing each other in circles in the kitchen, and plucked the painting out of Amethyst's hands. She stood still for a moment, appraising the painting, and Pearl felt her chest tighten as she watched her leader almost reverentially place the painting on the empty wall above the door.

"Oh," she said, not even trying to contain the tears forming in her eyes.

It was a portrait of Rose. Unlike so many of their other pictures, there was nothing glorious or epic about it, no grand story of adventure or romance in its lines and brushstrokes. The artist had simply captured her likeness as faithfully as he could, and she had repaid him in kind with the image she'd shown him, of her at her most human and most vulnerable. Her billowing pink hair and strong, matronly figure framed an expression so serene and wise it filled Pearl with the same warm, beloved feeling Rose's physical presence had.

Stepping back to admire the painting, Garnet smiled a soft, gentle smile that reminded Pearl of better times, before Greg came galumphing down the stairs to bring an end to their bittersweet moment.

* * *

><p>"So how are we doing this?"<p>

The four of them had clustered around Steven's crib as he slept. Occasionally he would murmur some unintelligible baby sound, but for the most part he kept his silence, his only signs of life the way he'd scrunch his face at what Pearl assumed must have been a particularly odd human dream.

"How are we doing what?" she asked, cocking her head to look at Greg. He'd crossed his arms over his chest, and now began tapping his feet as he formed words in his mouth Pearl would rather have had him keep to himself. Greg rarely said anything worth listening to.

"Steven," he eventually said, shaking his head. "Am I going to live here, or-"

"No!" The three gems shouted in unison, before all clapping a hand over their mouths. Steven fidgeted slightly, but otherwise remained blissfully asleep.

"Greg," Garnet began, awkwardly fumbling for words, "you can't live here."

"Why not?" He looked bewildered. Garnet shrugged.

"It'd be weird."

That was all she deigned to say, preferring to busy herself with something more interesting in the corner of the room. Pearl reached desperately for something a bit more tactful to add, but Amethyst got to it first, with her trademark aplomb.

"You're Rose's boytoy," she said, "it'd be really, really weird."

Having provided absolutely no help whatsoever, Amethyst looked over to Pearl, shrugged her shoulders dismissively, and went to join Garnet.

Pearl, fuming a little, calmed herself and tried to explain to Greg as best she could.

"What the other two are trying to say is," she started, gesturing frantically to cover up her total loss for words, "well, it's just, you know, it'd be…"

Pearl trailed off, and Greg begrudgingly filled in the gaps.

"Weird, huh?"

"Yes!" Her eyes lit up, and she practically jumped into the air. "I'm so glad you understand."

"So what are we going to do, then? I know about all this magic stuff and whatnot, but my baby needs his dad. I'm not going to just leave him."

Pearl had to concede the point. Humans weren't like Gems, who fostered no familial relationships beyond those they chose; they were born, not found, and that made them lots of things. Unreliable. Neurotic. Repellent. Gross.

Weird.

"Have we given it any real thought?" Pearl wondered aloud. She hadn't stopped thinking about little Steven and what she'd do to him when she had him on a platter, but Garnet and Amethyst had mostly been too caught up in their fascination with the baby to give child custody any real consideration. "Which one of us would take care of the child? Don't human mothers usually do that sort of thing?"

"We're all odd ducks here," Greg chuckled, leaning down to tickle the sleeping Steven's chin. "What do you think, Garnet?"

"It's not safe for Steven yet." Garnet had the final say on matters, generally, but Pearl couldn't abide by that. Not so close to the finish line.

"That's not true," she rebutted, angrily. "This house is fine! Nothing will happen to him in here. It's perfectly safe! I built it myself, after all!"

"Who will take care of him?"

"What's that mean?" Despite the rude interruption, Pearl had to admit Amethyst took the words out of her mouth. Morphing into a titanic human in a black leotard, Amethyst began pumping her fist in the air. "How hard can it be? Humans do it all the time!"

"I mean," Garnet said passively, "washing him."

Pearl winced.

"Feeding him."

She flinched.

"Changing his diapers."

"Stop! Stop!" Pearl cried, falling to her knees. "Please! I can't take it any more!"

"Sounds boring," Amethyst yawned, "but it'd do P good!"

Amethyst prodded the distraught Pearl in the side. In response, Pearl swatted at the other Gem, but she bounded off towards the temple door, laughing as it opened and she fell through.

"Pearl." Garnet's voice was comforting, if somewhat cold. "I agree with Amethyst. You need this."

"Really?" she whimpered back, arms clutching at her sides. "I don't know if I can." Suddenly caring for Steven seemed like a much more daunting task, and she wasn't sure she could take it, even for Rose. So many possibilities flared up in her head: puked on, pissed on, poked at, and god knows what else. Her mind refused to stop playing back the slideshow of risible yet horrifying visions that it foresaw in the scarily not-too-distant future. "I'm not ready for all this, Amethyst."

"I don't think so either!" Greg cut in. "I don't want to leave my little boy with someone like her! She's not a mom! Rose was a mom and they were like ketchup and mustard! They don't mix!"

"That's not true." Garnet shook her head, and Pearl could see the same small smile from earlier appear on her face. "I think ketchup and mustard are wonderful together."

That seemed to be the end of that. Greg looked as gobsmacked as Pearl felt, but he brushed that surprise off when Garnet leapt down the stairs and into the temple, leaving him and Pearl along together.

Turning to her, he nodded, eyes downcast but fists clenched.

"Listen to me, Pearl," he said, voice quaking as though he was trying to rein in building anger, "if you hurt my son, I don't know what I'll do, but you won't forget it."

With those parting words Greg walked away, disappearing out of the door without even a goodbye.

Pearl felt overwhelmed. What had beforehand seemed like such a good idea now filled her with unmistakable feelings of dread; dissecting Steven was clearly off the table, at least for now. If nothing else, she finally had the chance to examine the child at her leisure, but the joy that notion should have brought was tempered by a rising feeling of sickness in her stomach that spoke of sacrifices she'd never wanted to make and feelings she'd never wanted to experience.

She turned to look at Steven in his crib, through the bars of his little prison, and felt a little bit of her nausea recede when he blearily smiled back at her.

It was going to be a long, long blink of a metaphorical eye.


	4. Chapter 4

_Happy New Year to all my beloved readers! Hope your celebrations were as good as mine were. Let your resolutions be better – the first being to follow, favourite, and review!_

* * *

><p>Living in Beach City had been a spontaneous choice on Rose's part. Thousands upon thousands of years in the past (though it felt like it was only yesterday to Pearl), in the aftermath of the most terrible battle the Crystal Gems had ever fought, they'd happened upon a rocky outcrop settled on the eastern beachfront of a peaceful and beautiful island peninsula and decided to settle down. Pearl remembered every detail of it fondly.<p>

Building the Temple had not been an especially great challenge, and for the three of them and their erstwhile allies the chance to take a break from exploration and do something familiar was one they relished. Pearl's job had been to oversee the construction and relay supply orders to the Lunar Sea Spire nearly a thousand miles away, but even then she had made sure to get down and dirty with the others as much as possible, learning the ropes of construction as well as she already knew the theory. Greasing her elbows with her friends had been even better.

In those days, she had felt so close to the others. The kinship they had shared had been unbreakable and pure, like a dia-

She nipped that thought in the bud before it grow thorns, returning to her original train of thought as her hands mechanically continued scrubbing Steven's fluffy hair, idly zoning out the boy's laughter.

They had all trusted each other. More than that, they had all had someone to trust in: the invincible warrior goddess Rose Quartz, whose boundless love and fearless ferocity inspired and terrified friends and enemies in equal measure.

Perhaps most oddly, Pearl recalled being closest to Amethyst in those days gone by. She guessed the old saying was true, and familiarity bred contempt.

It irked her that she couldn't say the same for Steven. After ten months together and countless mishaps with his feeding, his hygiene, his learning and his general living, she found herself more and more enamoured of the starry-eyed child who found wonder in everything he saw. The more time she invested in him, whether it be the study of him or human children in general, the more she began to find herself terribly bored and antsy without him. A part of her had jealously come to guard their time together, even from Greg, and rather than finding frustration in her total uselessness regarding saving Rose, she had begun valuing the purpose she found in raising Steven.

Today was a special day, and she refocused, eyeing Steven with scientific curiosity.

"Guess what, Steven?" she cooed at him. He chirped back delightedly in his unintelligible baby speak. "That's right! Today we're going to go see the inside of the Temple! Won't that be lovely?"

"No, you're not," deadpanned a familiar voice from the kitchen, and Pearl sighed. Of course, Garnet would choose that moment to turn up and interrupt.

"Oh, what's the harm?" Pearl sighed, already resigned to the spanner in the metaphorical works. She'd never get a chance to really take a look at Steven in the comfort of her workshop if Garnet had any say in it, and she'd been adamant about keeping an eye on Pearl since the start. "Haven't I proven to you how capable a mother I am?"

"You're not his mother." Pearl grimaced. That was certainly true. Stuff Garnet and her logical nature. Couldn't she read between the lines? "You're also not up to anything good."

"I'm just giving Steven a bath!" Pearl lifted the prune of a child out of the water and wrapped him in a nice, warm towel. "What do you think I'm going to do in the Temple, dissect him?"

Garnet raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

"Okay, first of all, if I was going to cut him up, I certainly wouldn't do it in the Temple!" Pearl cried in mock indignation. "Second of all, it's not that dangerous. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I don't know," was the answer Pearl got. "No one but us has ever been inside the Temple. It's a bad idea."

"Oh, that's nonsense," Pearl retorted, laughing the other Gem's concerns off. "Look, see? I'll show you."

Pearl moved towards the door, Steven cradled in her arms. No sooner had Garnet reached out her hand to pull the other Gem back away from the door did it begin sparking and fizzling wildly, and after a momentary lightshow Amethyst burst through the door, heavy black smoke trailing in behind her.

"Wow," Amethyst exclaimed, brushing herself off as she straightened up, "I don't know what just happened, but something got the Temple really angry there and now everything's all messed up."

Garnet shook her head reprovingly.

"Don't go in there for a while, okay? I think Rose's room is the problem. I'll go check it out."

Gawping, Pearl watched Amethyst turn around and slink back in. She stood slack-jawed and speechless for several moments before turning to Garnet and pointing one finger at the doorway.

"Can it really do that?"

The taller Gem just shrugged.

* * *

><p>"Greg! Greg! Over here!"<p>

Pearl waved from across the boardwalk, Steven slung across her front in some sort of ingenious carrier device she had salvaged from a human maternity store's bargain bin. He followed her lead, babbling and waving at the man at the end of the pier. Said man rushed over as though his feet were on fire.

"There you guys are!" He sputtered, panting and sweating. Pearl and Steven shared a knowing giggle. Stuck inside the gigantic mascot costume for the local fry bar, Greg looked, and smelled, like a boiled egg with a serious sunburn. He scratched at the little bit of beard visible through the costume's visor, and knelt down to peck Steven on the head. "How's my little buddy doing? Is he working as hard as Daddy?"

"Of course he isn't, Greg, he's a baby," Pearl groaned, but Greg wasn't listening, too busy playing peekaboo with the enraptured Steven. "Aren't you supposed to be working right now?"

"Am I ever not working?" Greg sighed, mopping at his now-glistening beard. Pearl found herself both revolted and awed by the man, stuck in a suit that might as well have been an oven under the burning midday sun. "With this job, and the Big Donut job, and the Funland job, I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself since Rose was here."

"It's all for the cause, though, right?" Pearl tousled little Steven's hair and smiled.

"Yeah!" Greg's enthusiasm was infectious. "I don't mind the exhaustion, or the budgeting, or the rash, if it's for Steven."

"The rash?" Pearl quizzed, but Greg breezed right past it.

"So what are you two doing out today? Can I interest you in some Fryman company fries?"

"No," Pearl retched, put off by the thought of food, "I thought I'd take Steven for a stroll. It's such a nice day."

"It really is." The two of them looked up at the sky, clear and blue save the contrails of a plane in flight overhead. "I wish I could join you, but-"

"That's okay, really!" Pearl said, failing to hide the crack in her voice. "We'll leave you to it. Bye!"

She hurried off. Spending more time than necessary with Greg was not exactly high on her to-do list.

Thinking about her plans for the rest of the day put a spring in her step as she boarded the nearby bus to her destination. She had realised when talking to Garnet that she didn't need her workshop to study Steven, because just down the road she could find a veritable treasure trove of knowledge of human children and the mechanics of human reproduction: the Beach City Hospital. Why faff around with fun but pointless independent study when she already had everything she needed right at her fingertips?

In the carrier, Steven napped blissfully, unaware of the devilish deeds Pearl had planned for him.

* * *

><p>"We're here!" Pearl squeaked in glee, clasping Steven's tiny, frantic hands in her own. He burbled joyfully as well. The bus journey over had been a tough one in the heat. Crowds parted around her and her baby, but people stopping to fuss over them both did not make things any easier.<p>

What they did was waste Pearl's time, and she felt silly for willingly being complicit in it. For every old bat or young couple that stopped to admire Steven, she would in turn stop and bask in their adulation. Steven seemed to draw people magnetically towards him, and laid resplendent in his little throne on her chest as they showered him in affection.

Pearl found it intoxicating. She had spent so long keeping her distance from humans that having them in such close proximity, and such awe, was very new to her. Part of her wondered if it was how Rose had felt among her little child followers, human and Gem alike.

It helped that so many people had told her that she and Steven were "the cutest mother and son they'd ever seen". She loved receiving compliments.

At the reception desk the nurse, a face with whom Pearl had become very familiar in the past few months, was swamped with complainants from all sides. Pearl swept past them magnificently, and they turned to watch her gracefully pass them like a queen. That was how it felt, anyway. In reality, she was sure most of them were still shouting at the flustered concierge, but humans were wont to ignore the rest of the world even at the best of times.

Making her way down the oft-trodden path towards the maternity ward, Pearl encountered the person she'd been looking for.

That had been enlightening, to say the least. To say any more would have made her even more nauseous.

The trip home had been much less eventful than the trip to the hospital, simply because Pearl had been too conspicuously shocked for passers-by to approach her and her little baby. She had wanted to learn about human reproduction, but never had she thought she would regret it as much as she did.

Thousands of years on the planet, alongside humans, and she had never caught them at it?

The thought that Rose had engaged in that debauchery, and with a human, no less, made her shiver in disgust. The kindly nurse she'd gone to for information, who had helped Rose through the process of childbirth, had turned out to have such a lewd and depraved mind (and such an eloquent vocabulary!) that her graphic depiction of the process of "sex", as humans called it, was sure to give Pearl nightmares for the rest of her life.

They put their parts…in other people's parts! It was unconscionable.

That entire process, between Rose and Greg, the two of them becoming one, had resulted in Steven. Pearl hadn't been there for the childbirth, as the mere notion of a Gem having a human child had made her faint even in spite of her total ignorance on the matter, but to think that that was what had happened made her question whether bringing Rose back was a good idea. If the thought of it traumatised her that much, the memory of it would probably have been enough to kill Rose stone dead.

Opening the door to the little house in front of the Temple, Pearl moaned, swayed slightly, and, Steven still sleeping peacefully in his pouch, crashed onto the sofa beside Amethyst, choosing to ignore the moral quandaries of reviving Rose in favour of a good rest and some brain bleach.

"Hey, P," the other Gem laughed, "you look frazzled. What's up?"

"Don't ask," was all Pearl said.


	5. Chapter 5

There had to be some sort of cosmic force out to get her.

In a mixture of confusion and dizzying shock, Pearl had theatrically lain down on the couch in the house's lounge, and now she stared idly up at the ceiling, eyes dim and unfocused. Amethyst leaned over her and waved.

"Hello? Earth to Pearl, anyone home?"

No response. Amethyst groaned, seating herself on the table.

"Come on, Pearl, don't be a big baby. It's only one day."

That got Pearl's attention. She sat up stiffly, swinging around to glare at Amethyst with renewed fire.

"Only one day?" Pearl fumed, hands clamped firmly to her elegant hips. "That was exactly what you said last time and you promised it would never happen again!"

"Oh, come on, P!" Amethyst unthinkingly mirrored Pearl's confrontational posture. "You can't hog him all for yourself! Sometimes I want to have fun with him too, yeah?"

The two Gems leaned in towards each other, eyes narrowed, so close that the points of their noses touched. Not a hard feat for Pearl, Amethyst mused internally, as the air between them practically crackled with electricity.

Then Pearl deflated, clearly beaten, and sunk back into her seat. Smirking in victory, Amethyst sat down.

"I don't care," Pearl sighed, dismissively waving a dainty hand. "Do what you want. No one ever listens to me anyway."

"Yes!" Amethyst pumped a fist in the air in glee. "Hand him over, bird beak!"

Throwing a stern glare in Amethyst's direction, Pearl slumped off glumly towards the stairs leading up to Steven's bedroom. In his crib he lay, sleeping peacefully, and it broke her heart to think that she had to wake him up just to hand him over to that careless, pig-headed oaf.

"Steven," she cooed, gently rubbing the skin behind his ear, "it's time to wake up now."

He rolled over and continued snoozing. Pearl traced her finger down his neck, along his shoulders and across his spine. She'd become intimately aware of the baby's most ticklish spots after many hours of playful experimentation and her own demeanour brightened as he woke, bursting into fits of laughter.

He rolled back towards her, smiling his toothless, gummy grin, and held his hands out to her in the position she recognised as 'Hug'. She sighed and lifted him into her arms.

"Looks like today you get to hang around with big sister Amethyst," Pearl said, deadpan, hoping it would elicit tears from the baby. Begrudgingly she handed him over when, upon seeing the Gem in question, he began blabbering his unintelligible baby sounds and struggling to get at her.

Amethyst heaved Steven out of Pearl's arms and threw him into the air. Watching very nearly made Pearl faint, but she composed herself just in time to snatch him away from the other Gem.

"What do you think you're doing?" she cried, protectively clutching Steven to her chest and ignoring his choking sounds. "He's just a baby! If you're going to treat him the way you treat everything else I'm not letting you spend another moment near him!"

"Chill out, P," Amethyst groaned, "he's, like, a year and a bit now. It's not like a little rough fun is going to hurt him."

"Try to understand, Pearl." Materialising in a flash of light, Garnet stepped forth from the warp pad and shook herself off. Pearl sidestepped as blobs of hot magma careened past her on all sides. "Amethyst is just being herself with Steven. You need to let go."

"Just being herself?" Harrumphing, Pearl reluctantly handed Steven back to Amethyst. "Maybe that's what she needs to stop being!"

"Hey!" Amethyst raised a balled fist, tucking Steven into the nook of her other arm. "What's that supposed to mean, you stuck-up old hag?"

"Old hag?" Why, you little-"

"I ought to-"

"Gems, enough," Garnet interrupted, lifting them by the scruffs of their necks. "Let's play nice. For Steven."

"Yes, ma'am," the two gems chorused in unison as monotonously as any two naughty children could.

Steven's laughter was infectious, though, and eventually they all laughed along with him.

* * *

><p>"What is she up to?" Pearl muttered to herself, crouching in the shadows of a nearby building as she tailed Amethyst and Steven through the city.<p>

Her clandestine operation had gone well so far. She thanked her lucky stars, for once, for Amethyst's lazy and careless nature; it had enabled her to follow the other Gem discreetly, monitoring her every action. Pearl hesitated to think about the many things that could go wrong with Steven under Amethyst's care. The idea of losing him, thereby losing Rose, was still too painful to think about, and her own progress on her personal project – Rose's resurrection – hadn't gone far enough to get past the whole 'needing Steven' part.

She flitted from one building to the next, slinking around corners like a snake as she kept Amethyst in her peripheral vision. It wouldn't be hard to follow a tiny purple woman on a boardwalk devoid of people, she was sure, returning to organising her thoughts.

Some of the things she'd learned about Steven had been disorienting, to say the least. He needed to perform gruesome biological functions that unnerved her just to think about. He couldn't walk or talk, but he babbled and chirped so energetically it was as though he spoke a language all his own. He was sensitive, and gentle, and most of all, only occasionally obnoxious, especially compared to other human babies. He had his idiosyncrasies, yes, but they were charming.

She could only describe him as adorable.

Other things she'd learned had been disheartening. His organic nature made him susceptible to illness and injury, and so far he had manifested absolutely nothing in the way of Gem powers. Rose's strength had been fantastic, but Steven possessed none of it, at least as far as she could tell.

Most of all, though, she had begun to rethink her approach to the Rose problem.

Did Steven really need to die? More importantly, did she really want to kill him?

Pondering the important questions led Pearl straight into a lamppost.

The impact knocked her into a momentary daze, but as she recovered, holding one hand to her aching temple and massaging the dent in her holographic body, she caught a glimpse of a squat figure quickly turning a corner, baby-shaped object in hand. Pearl's disoriented mind could only parse it in one way, and she chased after them, spinning round the corner and grabbing manically at their escaping shoulder with her free hand.

"I have you now!" She screamed into the face of her victim. "You're not getting away from me, Amethyst..."

The girl in her hands looked as surprised as she felt. Hurriedly Pearl released her and pulled away.

"Have you seen a purple woman with a baby?"

Dumbly, the girl shook her head. There was no point in fussing around with this tiny blonde human, then. Pearl sighed, running off in the opposite direction and leaving the child blankly staring at her retreating figure.

Part of her wanted to give up and go home. There didn't seem to be much point in hanging around the beach now that she'd lost track of Amethyst and little Steven. More than ever she felt like she was vindicating Amethyst's mockery.

"I'm not neurotic," she muttered as she glumly made her way back towards the house. "See if I care what she does! Let her hurt Steven all she wants. Maybe I'll just go on a mission with Garnet to take my mind off things."

"Um, Pearl?" Startled, Pearl jumped what must have been ten feet into the air. "Who are you talking to, you weirdo?"

"There you are! You had me running around like a headless bird!" Inwardly she cursed herself for being caught. Had she been capable, she'd most certainly have been sweating bullets under Amethyst's piercing glare.

"Why?" was all Amethyst said.

"Oh!" That certainly left Pearl at a loss. "Well, it's just, I was, sort of, well..."

Pearl's mouth struggled around the words her mind was trying to process. Surely she had some sort of excuse prepared for just this eventuality, right? She was smarter than that! Outwitting the purple dunce would be a piece of cake.

Said purple dunce tapped a foot impatiently, shocking Pearl from her reverie, and she faltered. She had nothing. The harsh heat of Amethyst's disapproval, of all possible Gems, had her wilting like the flowers in Rose's abandoned garden. In a way, it reminded her of the old days.

It was not a nice way.

"You see, the thing is-"

The sound of excited chirping interrupted her just as she ran out of ways to vocally stall (her last face-saving trick being a more physical 'push her into the ocean') and from beneath Amethyst's baggy coat crawled Steven, up Amethyst's back and latching his stubby arms around her neck, where he clung with the grip of a tiny, deceptively strong gorilla. The tickling sensation made Amethyst burst into laughter, and she reached up behind her back, grabbing the errant child and throwing him into the air.

Pearl squawked, equal parts fear and dismay, but by the time she'd made a move Amethyst had already pulled Steven down into her arms, settling him quite comfortably into her chest. He seemed overjoyed either way.

"Relax, P," she said, smirking, "it's just a game Steven and I like to play. He's not gonna get hurt-whoa!"

Amethyst stumbled forward, Steven careening precariously close to falling out of her grip and down onto the tarmac. Pearl, ever vigilant, rocketed forward to catch him, but Amethyst steadied herself far too easily, laughing almost as loud as the ecstatic little baby whose life she'd just threatened. If Pearl knew anything, it was that short falls to hard ground were not good for fragile human babies. Her ire with Amethyst ratcheted up several notches.

"I got you good!" Why would she not stop laughing? Was she making fun of Pearl? How could she take Steven's safety into her own hands so recklessly, for the sake of a stupid joke? "Oh, boy, Pearl, you really need to lighten up! You've been totally on edge ever since Rose died!"

So that was it. Pearl shook her head, frustration dissipating, and held one slender figure to the centre of her forehead.

"Did you do all this just to get me out here?"

"Garnet wouldn't." Amethyst shrugged. "She said we should let you get over it on your own. I thought about it."

"And?" She already knew the answer. It wasn't in Amethyst's nature to let a sleeping Gem lie.

"You've been so uptight and boring since Steven was born! It's lame." At that Pearl winced. Amethyst playfully stuck her tongue out in response. "Something's up with you and I wanna know. We used to be best friends, P!"

"No, we were comrades." The thought of better times made her metaphorical heart twist. "There's a difference. As if I'd ever be friends with a lazy, unkempt wastrel like you!"

"That's the spirit!" Apparently that had Amethyst going. "I miss this! The old banter between you and me, you know, the two newbies learning to deal! Like a buddy cop show!"

The smile on Amethyst's face, that hadn't quite reached her eyes, melted away. In its place there was a frown that looked very real indeed.

"What happened?"

Pearl knew it was vicious and cruel, but she couldn't stop herself. She supposed it was her major character flaw; she didn't quite know when to let things go.

"Rose died, Amethyst, and now we're stuck on Earth with no idea what we're doing, a human child on our hands, and a dead-weight layabout that's more interested in sleeping and eating than doing her job!" Hands on her hips, Pearl looked the very image of a mythical dragon. She certainly felt like one, heartless and destructive. "Maybe if you cleaned up your act, and Garnet stopped moping all the time, we could try and go back to the way things used to be!"

There'd been no part of her that had expected Amethyst to just back off or give in, and Pearl knew she hadn't a snowball's chance in hell of intimidating the other Gem. It shocked her when, instead of the meltdown she'd expected followed by one of their old catfights, Amethyst just stared down at her feet, hands tangled in Steven's hair. Even he seemed cowed.

Regret filled Pearl's heart, but couldn't salve the wounds she'd inflicted or had inflicted on herself. Why take back, she thought, the words they'd all been waiting to say? For once she was going to be the stubbornly wrong one instead of stubbornly right.

That was her prerogative, wasn't it? To be wrong, for once, and to hurt someone for it?

By the time she'd sussed out an answer in her head that felt satisfactory, Amethyst and Steven had already disappeared, abandoning her.


	6. Chapter 6

_ Peridot or Stevonnie? I don't know which new character to love more!_

The gentle sound of the waves lapping against the shore of the beach in front of the temple never failed to bring peace to Pearl's frazzled mind.

She liked the ocean. Its sprawling majesty humbled her. In a way, it reminded her of space, if a little smaller; unpredictable, dangerous, and teeming with vibrant life. Watching it and admiring it eased the pain of being stranded on Earth, and often she would spend days at a time simply lying at its mouth, feeling the waters lovingly caress her submerged feet.

Today, they were placid, and it soothed her. In the dying light of the setting sun, relaxing on the shimmering golden sands, she could finally let her hair down and rest.

Pearl laid back, eyes closed, and stretched her arms into the air before. She yawned. It felt alien in her mouth, but she let it free, feeling all the better for it. Stalking Amethyst had been a long and tiring affair, and their confrontation had left her feeling drained. She lifted a sand-covered foot, idly watching the tiny grains stream through the gaps between her toes. Silhouetted against the orange sky, it almost reminded her of home.

Her mind drifted to thoughts of Amethyst, and she winced, recalling the horrid way she'd treated the other Gem.

"Oh, Amethyst," she groaned to herself, "I wish you'd listen to me for once!"

"As if that's ever gonna happen," a familiar voice replied, but Pearl remained still, eyes closed, failing to hide the small smile forming on her lips.

"Whatever was I thinking?" The ground beneath her shifted awkwardly as a heavier presence sat down beside her. Eyes still closed, she sensed a smaller weight move from where Amethyst sat, crawl over to her, and sit itself on her stomach. Her hands reached down to grab it, pulling it it into a tight hug. "Some people are just too stubborn to hear reason, I suppose!"

"Sure, sure," Amethyst laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "and I guess some people always have to be right too, huh?"

Pearl chose not to answer that one, opening her eyes and meeting Steven's curious gaze. The shock of puffy black hair that framed his little face seemed to contort to match his moods, and now it was droopy and lifeless, mirroring his similarly droopy expression.

"Are you tired, sweetie?" she crooned at him. He appeared to understand, as he curled up on her chest, and promptly fell asleep. Pearl craned her neck down to kiss him before resuming her comfy position, prone on the ground.

"He's had a rough day," said Amethyst. "Maybe he knows his moms were fighting over him?"

That left Pearl a little puzzled.

"Moms?" She was sure her face betrayed her confusion.

"Yeah," was the response she got, frustratingly unclear as it was. "Poor little guy. What human kid has so many moms that all love him so much?"

"I've never thought about it that way." It was true enough. In Rose's absence, she had taken on her duties at home, if not afield, and with the help of the others they'd managed to, somehow, raise a bright and beautiful child. She didn't even bother trying to stifle the rising swell of sentiment in her heart at the thought that that was what she was, that she'd finally found her role: as this boy's surrogate mother.

As soon as that thought entered her mind, the thought that she'd ever wanted to hurt Steven, let alone end his precious life, made her suddenly very, very angry with herself.

"P, are you crying?"

With a jolt, Pearl's head shot up. Steven budged ever so slightly, but she clung to him, desperately, with the fierce temper of a mother united with her child for the first time.

"How could I ever have..."

"Ever have what?"

Amethyst cocked her head to the side in confusion. Pearl glanced sideways at her, hyperventilating, just in time to catch the other Gem burst into fits of uncontrollable giggles.

"Pearl, what are you doing, you dummy?" She wiped tears away from the corners of her eyes. "We don't even breathe! You look like a fish when you do that."

"Don't you have any sympathy?" Pearl shrieked, gasping for effect. So much for her tranquil mood, she thought, waving away the other Gem's feigned gestures of pity.

"Sympathy for what? You being a total dweeb?" She smirked. "Nah."

Pearl harrumphed. Being derided by Amethyst of all people was not high on her list of priorities.

"Well, you don't have to be so blunt about it."

Amethyst shrugged, throwing herself across Pearl's prone form. To Pearl it felt odd for them to be so intimate, but it was nice. She relished the nostalgic feeling of Amethyst's body laid across hers.

"You know, you're right." Pearl crossed her arms behind her head. Rather than feeling scratchy or dry, the sand felt like a smooth, soft blanket, gently caressing her as she sank into it; part of her wanted to stay that way forever, just lounging on the shore with her favourite people. Earth had some qualities, she grudgingly accepted, one of them being its peaceful and idyllic scenes. "I do miss it. When we were close."

Now they were practically spooning. With Steven wedged snugly between them, Pearl felt slightly indecent.

"Yeah, well," Amethyst yawned, eliciting a yawn from Pearl in return, "It was easier back then, you know? It was just us two. Rose and Garnet were too busy being Rose and Garnet to care."

Pearl murmured in affirmation.

"Plus, back then you weren't so neurotic."

"I am not neurotic," she mumbled blearily in response, but she knew her words had no weight. They'd been so perfunctory even she didn't believe them.

Amethyst snuggled up into her, one arm thrown across her chest, and drew her in close. She fidgeted slightly until she found just the right spot in the other Gem's embrace, and let the soothing breeze wash over her.

As Pearl's eyes drifted shut and sweet sleep claimed her, ocean waves gently lapping at her feet, she caught a last glimpse of the darkened sky overhead as the night's stars popped into life.

The view reminded her of home.

* * *

><p>"Oh, hey, Garnet!"<p>

Greg didn't bother trying to contain his enthusiasm at seeing the Gem. She had always been his favourite of the trio (barring Rose, of course) and although they didn't necessarily agree on much, they got along as well as any two people could get when one was a magical lady from outer space. Almost, at any rate.

He had to admit it was a little odd to see her. Usually when she sought him out it was for something to do with Steven, whom she'd taken to raising like a mother born. Often he found himself less skilled at fatherhood than the Gems were at motherhood, which struck him as odd and a little galling, given their non-human status.

Trapped in his Frybo outfit, though, it didn't matter why she was there. He'd take any excuse to take the thing off.

Shedding the costume like an unwanted layer of skin, Greg clambered out of his cloth prison and greeted Garnet panting and sweating. If nothing else, at least he was aware that he couldn't have been a pleasant sight, or smell, for that matter.

"Greg." Garnet nodded cursorily at him. In one hand, she held a bottle Greg recognised as Steven's favourite feeding bottle. Her other hand was clenched so tightly Greg couldn't make out what she had for him, beyond a thin metal point that stuck out from the bottom of her fist, gleaming angrily in the evening sun.

"That doesn't inspire me with confidence," he said, pulling at the neck of his shirt as he watched her raise her fist. "Are you going to hit me?"

"What?" Taking a look at her clenched hand, Garnet appeared to come to a sudden realisation and relaxed it, forcing herself to smile as she slipped the unidentified object into her pocket. She wondered why Rose had taken so strongly to someone as cowardly as this affable but yellow-bellied man. "No. Not today."

"Thanks, I think," he said. Garnet raised an eyebrow, though she was sure he couldn't see it underneath her thick shades. "What's up?"

"I need you." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted saying them, and she slapped her free hand over her mouth before it could continue to embarrass her. Eloquence had never been her strong suit, but this was getting ridiculous. Someday she had to learn how to express herself properly.

Greg, on the other hand, looked absolutely gobsmacked.

"I, uh," he stammered, "um, you, that's, what?"

"What I mean is," Garnet said slowly, making sure to stress every syllable, "I need your help. With something."

"Oh!" Garnet felt slightly wounded at his relief. "Sure, I can help. What do you want me to do, ol' buddy?"

Garnet glossed over his not-so-subtle endearment, raising the hand in which she held Steven's baby bottle. She hoped Steven wouldn't turn out quite like his father in adulthood.

"I am leaving for a mission."

"Really?" Greg narrowed his eyes. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm taking Pearl and Amethyst with me."

Greg's eyes widened in realisation, face breaking into a big grin to match.

"That means me and Stevie get some father-son bonding time!" Greg jumped into the air, whooping in celebration. It had been a solid month since he'd last had opportunity to really spend time with his son, and he'd missed him terribly. "Sounds great! When are you leaving?"

"You don't need to sound so eager." Garnet wasn't as mirthful as he obviously was. She dreaded the idea of leaving Steven behind. No matter how often they did it, it never got easier, and she always nursed the quiet fear that something would happen during their time apart.

Not to them, though. They could handle anything the world threw at them. It was the fear that something would hurt Steven that drove her to wild distraction.

"Sorry," Greg chuckled sheepishly, "I guess I'm just psyched! I've missed father-son bonding time."

She respected that. Greg worked hard to support Steven, and she admired him for his dedication to his son, if nothing else. After all, she'd helped him set up Steven's college fund.

"Where are you guys going?" Greg continued. "Am I allowed to know?"

"Just out. Nowhere special." Lying to Greg wasn't a habit she took pride in, but it was for his own good. "We'll be back in a few days. It'll be fine."

"Okay." Nodding, Greg raised his hand. Garnet took it and shook it. "Just be safe. Steven would hate to lose his moms."

"We will." At least she could be honest about that. She'd hesitated originally, but even Amethyst, after some explanation, had come to respect the gravity of their new mission. Now she only had to broach the subject with Pearl and they'd be able to leave, get it done, and come back in time for dinner. Or a dinner, anyway. Differentiating between them was a chore when she didn't even eat. "I promise."

"Great!" Greg's grin was contagious, and even she couldn't help but smirk. "I'll see you then, then! I'll come by and pick Steven up after work!"

"Okay."

And with that sorted, she left.

* * *

><p>"Pearl. I need to speak to you in private."<p>

"What?"

The sound of a voice, suspiciously like Garnet's, roused Pearl from her slumber, and she stirred, slowly gathering herself and pushing away the fog of sleep. Next to her Amethyst buzzed away, snoring contentedly, and Pearl leaned over to brush flecks of sand out of the sleeping Gem's hair. Steven was nowhere to be seen.

Momentarily afterwards, that realisation clicked in her scattered head, and she shot up into the air in panic.

"Where's Steven?" she whispered frantically, latching onto Garnet's arm with the strength of a madwoman. "He was here just a few minutes ago! Surely he can't have gone far-"

"Relax, Pearl," murmured Garnet as soothingly as she could, laying a heavy but comforting hand on the other Gem's shoulder and massaging it. She did, faintly, but enough that Garnet could feel the tension in her dissipate. "Greg took Steven. He's absolutely fine."

"Oh, that's good." She deflated like a balloon. "Why?"

"Because," said Garnet, squatting down to shake Amethyst from the clutches of sleep, "we're going on a mission."

"Oh," was Pearl's only answer to that.


	7. Chapter 7

Pearl sat primly on the arm of the living room sofa. Beside her Amethyst lounged across all three cushions, head rested on one hand as the other tangled itself up in her hair. Pearl watched in silent disapproval out of the corner of her eye, unconvincingly pretending to focus on Garnet's mission brief.

Amethyst's behaviour had been odd enough in the past, and adding Steven to the equation had, in the past year and a half, steadily made her more and more distant and snappish. She wondered how Amethyst felt, and cursed herself for being so involved in her own feelings that she'd neglected those of her comrades.

Apparently she'd been wearing her feelings more plainly on her face than she'd realised. Her attentions switched from Amethyst to Garnet, who stood quietly in front of her, hands on her hips. A small smile of knowing amusement adorned her face for just a moment before she returned to her regular, stoic frown.

"Back to the matter at hand." Pearl nodded, leaning forward, but her mind remained astray. Try as she might, whatever Garnet was saying just didn't interest her. Instead she found herself again and again contemplating what it was that she and Amethyst had shared, for just a few bittersweet moments.

Pearl's eyes met Amethyst's, and she blushed, quickly turning away. She'd been too obvious. The other girl's leer burned into her side like a laser, and she struggled to maintain her composure beneath its intensity.

"Pearl, I need you to focus." The tone of displeasure in Garnet's voice brooked no argument. Pearl's struggles with insecurity would have to wait. She foisted her thoughts off to one side, firmly meeting Garnet face to face.

"Yes." Then she deflated. "What are we doing again?"

Amethyst's barking laughter clashed with Garnet's defeated sigh. Pearl could feel her cheeks burning the bright blue hue of shame.

"Our next mission will be our most challenging yet. I need your full focus."

"Of course, of course, and you have it," Pearl replied, "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this thing that we're doing."

"Which you don't know."

"Right!" Pausing, Pearl blanched as waves of shame remorselessly rolled over her. She'd just admitted to zoning Garnet out, something she would never usually have done. Now she was in trouble.

Surprisingly enough, Garnet let it slide, taking Pearl's hands in her own.

"Pearl."

"Yes?" Pearl's voice faltered.

"We're going into Rose's room."

Upon hearing Garnet's words the world faded away, leaving Pearl alone with Garnet in deep, threatening darkness.

"We can't," she gasped, feeling her throat tighten and constrict as she fought for air her mind failed to remember it didn't need. "It's not ours."

The very thought of intruding on Rose's private space was a blasphemy. It wasn't the same as her room, or Garnet's, or Amethyst's; it had a living, breathing quality all of its own, and a mind to match. Once before she'd found herself lost inside it. She'd promised herself never again.

Malicious couldn't begin to describe it.

In the time Rose had lived (times she still looked wistfully back upon), her soothing and serene presence had brought peace and tranquility to the domain of the Temple. Most of it had been in ruin or disrepair for thousands of years, unattended by the Gems that had originally inhabited it, but Rose had dedicated herself to restoring the halcyon days of the once-grand structure and had, through tender, loving care, managed to succeed. On some small level, anyway. Much of what had once been the mightiest off-world Gem colony in the galaxy was still unsalvageable, but Rose had done the impossible and given life back to what had for millennia been considered dead.

In response, the Temple had become accustomed to Rose; now, in her absence, it rebelled. Parts of it remained loyal, but much was lost and abandoned.

Rose's room most of all sorely missed its master, and the vengeful spirit of the place lashed out against any who dared enter. It hadn't appreciated them before, and it certainly wouldn't now.

"Why?" She could hear the panic rising in her voice. "What is there in Rose's room that we could possibly need?"

"Yeah, Garnet," came a yawn from the occupied space on the couch beside her, "don't get our little chicken all worked up over nothing. Bawk bawk!"

"Oh, shut up," Pearl sniffed, glaring away from Amethyst in shame. "We all know the dangers. I'm just being cautious."

"What's that?" Amethyst cupped a hand against her ear and leaned over. "I'm sorry, I don't speak chicken!"

"Stop that! Are you a child?"

"Bawk bawk bawk bawk!"

"I said stop that!"

"Enough!" Roaring, Garnet pulled the two quarreling Gems apart. "You're both right. It is dangerous, but we have no choice." She paused. "Suck it up."

"Fine." She hated being picked on, especially by Amethyst. Hot one moment, cold the next, she supposed. "Why?"

"For Steven."

"That doesn't make sense." Pearl quirked an eyebrow. "Steven's manifested no powers, shown no latent connection to his gem beyond it shaking when his tummy rumbles. Why would there be anything in Rose's space that he needs?"

As if answering her question, the surface of the temple door began to ripple, then vibrate, and eventually tore itself wide open, revealing a dim, hazy darkness inside. Gulping, Pearl moved towards it, clutching at Garnet's arm for the tenuous moral support it provided.

The three of them stuck their heads in.

* * *

><p>"Who's my special little guy?"<p>

Giggling, Steven waved his hands in the air. Greg revelled in the boy's eagerness. Having time to spend with Steven was rare enough these days, but every second of it was absolutely precious. With the joy of fatherhood on his mind, he raised the spoon he held from the depths of the baby food jar and brought it to Steven's expectant lips.

Soon, Steven had emptied the jar.

"Wow, kid," Greg laughed, putting the spoon and the jar to one side, "your stomach knows no limits!" He patted his own stomach proudly. "Guess you get that from your old man, huh?"

Steven nodded. Such an intelligent boy, Greg mused, tousling his thick black hair.

"Hope you don't get fat like me, though," he laughed again, though with decidedly less enthusiasm than the first round. "Kinda makes wearing Frybo suits a little harsh. Hope you don't have to do that, either. Is it just me or is it hot in here?"

Shaking the sweat off his body, Greg threw open the back doors of his van. Outside the sun shone with a ferocity the likes of which he hadn't seen in months. Overhead, not a single cloud marred the pristine blue sky.

What an idyllic day for him to spend with his beloved son.

"Oh, hey, alderman Dewey!" He cried, waving frantically at the man walking down the street towards the pier, who waved back as genially as one could while pretending not to know someone.

"Nice guy." Steven stuck his tongue out at that. "What? He's a politician, he can't be hanging around with bums like us!"

For a few minutes, Greg continued to bumble about, enjoying the sunny weather. In the confines of the van, Steven began to doze off, until the sound of a loud horn jarred him into wakefulness.

"Oh, Yellowtail!" Greg shook the hand of the bearded man that appeared from nowhere in Steven's vision. "Good to see you!"

Steven watched his feeder and the stranger interact for a while. While only dimly cognizant of words, he quite liked the peculiar brightness of this little man in yellow, and he babbled excitedly at him, hoping to catch his attention.

Turning to him, the yellow man smiled as brightly as the clothes he wore, and he flared in Steven's vision like a second sun. The effect was dazzling.

"What can I help you with today?" Greg asked, interrupting Steven's fascination with Yellowtail. The man cleared his throat and began to rattle off instructions in a language Greg only vaguely understood. "Okay, so you want what exactly? Your boat cleaned?"

The yellow man nodded. He seemed hugely pleased by Greg's quickness on the uptake, and enthusiastically clapped him on the back.

"Well, uh, sure, I can get that done for you. It'll cost you, though!"

Nodding, the yellow man pulled out a pocketbook, but as he began to reach into his pocket for a pen, he froze, struck by sudden inspiration. A smile unlike any Greg had ever seen stretched across his face, and he put the pocketbook away and threw shut the backdoors of Greg's van.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Greg himself felt a little caught out, but he complied with the man's request to open the passenger side of the van's front compartment before climbing into the driver's seat.

Yellowtail pointed down the road and hashed out a few unintelligible words. Greg simply started the engine, put the car in gear and flew.

* * *

><p>Pearl's eyes took time to adjust to the darkness. It wasn't like the clear, starry nights of Beach City she'd come to enjoy; it rested heavy and foreboding on her shoulders, more a fog of shadow than the simple absence of light.<p>

Even the comforting presences of her friends at her side couldn't stave off the dread she felt. A low buzzing noise, like some sort of omnipresent static, filled her head to bursting; the room was awake, and it knew they were there.

It did not like it.

She edged forward. Usually she wasn't one to take the lead, but right now she still smarted from Amethyst's mockery and the desire to prove she wasn't a coward overpowered any rational thoughts she might have had. Her bravado ebbed away, though, when the static began to shift from a fuzzy ambient sound into a clear, ringing noise that pierced her skull as though it were a knife.

Amethyst and Garnet cringed simultaneously behind her. All of them knew that noise well.

Pearl fell to her knees, hands tightly wrapped around her ears. It didn't help. All three of them knew instinctively that the noise wasn't external; it emanated from inside their own heads, and nothing they could do would blot it out.

Luckily, as suddenly as it came, the noise receded, leaving only the fuzzy static in its wake. Pearl breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the weight of it roll off her shoulders, but she remained tense, painfully aware of her circumstances.

"Well, Garnet, we're here," she said, getting back to her feet, "so what is it we want to do, exactly?"

She fumbled around in the dark for a moment, waiting for Garnet's response as she tried to find her bearings.

"Garnet?"

Nothing. Static, silence, and empty darkness, spreading around her in all directions as far as the eye could see. Occasional ripples in the atmosphere, punctuated by blips in the static, suggested something was moving in the darkness around her, but she had no idea what. The space around her pulsed slowly and rhythmically, and a visceral fear gripped her with every beat.

Worst of all, she'd come to recognise that pattern of – what, exactly? Distortion? - from her many nights of watching Steven sleep peacefully in his crib.

She was alone, in the place in the universe she feared most, with something she couldn't identify.

And it was breathing.


	8. Chapter 8

_Surrogate has become one of the most popular Steven Universe fics on FFN! It really fills me with glee. Remember to continue showing your support(and to forgive me as it veers further and further away from canonicity) by reviewing, favouriting and following. _

* * *

><p>"So, uh," said Greg, fumbling for the right words, "why are we here, exactly?"<p>

Today, 'here' meant an abandoned building by the pier, just off the main street. In the distance he could see the familiar Fryman Fries sign rising into the sky; it couldn't have been more than a few minutes away on foot. This was prime real estate, to be sure.

The building itself wasn't completely decrepit, but saying it was on its way would be kind. It looked as though it hadn't had any sort of care or maintenance in years. The rusted garage door hung lopsided on its hinges where time had worn them away, and it swung precariously in the wind, threatening to come free at any moment. Abundant ivy grew up the walls, snaking through the shattered windows and empty frames like veins in the stone. A strong draft would have toppled the entire thing.

As far as Greg was concerned, it was a dump. And it was still probably astronomically more expensive than he could afford! What a world.

A hand grasped him by the shoulder. He turned to meet Yellowtail's eyes, but the shorter man did not, instead dragging him towards the abandoned building with more strength than Greg had ever expected from a man of his size.

"I guess that's the reward of a life at sea, huh, buddy?" He laughed, awkwardly stumbling over his own feet.

When Yellowtail finally came to a standstill, Greg finding his figurative sea legs behind him, they were stood outside the back entrance to the building, which looked substantially better kept than the front. Greg wouldn't have called it impressive, but it had a certain rustic charm. The mildew almost looked like paint.

"So, um," Greg said, more confused than ever, "why are we here?"

Yellowtail elected not to answer, instead opening the door and leading him inside.

"Whoa!"

Greg couldn't hide his surprise. Though the outside of the building had been dilapidated, to say the least, the inside looked even worse. Dry rot and termites had claimed the wooden foundations and the creaky, rickety stairs were so visibly unsafe that just looking at them made his legs turn to jelly. He could have sworn he could see something moving in the cobwebs that swathed every corner of the room.

In his arms, Steven rustled a bit. Even the usually unflappable lad seemed uncomfortable.

"Now I don't even know what's going on!" Greg's patience, already running thin, was stretched to its limit. He had all the time in the world for messing around, usually, but his time with his son was precious. This was a real waste. "Can you please just tell me why we're here?"

Yellowtail smiled, and launched into an explanation.

Apparently the place had been abandoned for a long time, and he'd recently come into ownership rights as the only surviving shareholder of the company that had formerly operated out of the building. As he spent most of his time out at sea, and lived on a mostly shoestring budget (that was set to become even tighter in light of his wife's unexpected second pregnancy), he had no real use for the building and couldn't renovate it. His belief was that no one in Beach City was desperate enough to rent out the place as it was.

Then, he'd met and befriended Greg Universe, a man whose desperation eclipsed even the most pathetic beggars he'd seen in his life.

Choosing to ignore the slight, Greg continued to listen. Yellowtail was offering him the deal of a lifetime: extremely cheap rent on the building and total license to renovate as he wished. In effect, in all but name, he'd own the place.

"Wow! Well, what can I say to an offer like that except sure?" Greg felt elated as he shook Yellowtail's proffered hand and surveyed his new acquisition. Even Steven's disposition seemed markedly improved, though he clearly had no idea that he'd just found his new home.

Now all he needed was to move his things out of his storage shed and into his van. Then, the real work would begin.

* * *

><p>"Garnet?"<p>

No answer. Not even an echo. The silence was almost stifling.

"Amethyst? Are you there?"

Pearl choked back the knot forming in her throat, and set her feet firmly into the ground. It felt solid and stable beneath her feet, but she refused to relax; the room hid tricks up its sleeves, and the inky black darkness could turn to quicksand at any time.

In times like these she found it helped to remind herself that she was a Crystal Gem, and had dealt with worse. Courage wasn't her strong suit, but she was in no measure a coward, and she had faced worse in the past. One word - 'kindergarten' - zipped through her mind at the speed of light, but she quashed it decisively as it tried to settle in, and focused herself on the matter at hand.

Garnet and Amethyst were both absent. The room had separated the three of them. Whether simple illusion or actual displacement, she didn't know, but she knew the mechanics of the Temple's trickery well enough to appreciate that, for all intents and purposes, she was on her own. It was not a comforting thought.

Summoning all her willpower, she took a trembling step forward. Then another. Another followed, and soon she was walking, one quaking step at a time, towards the dark abyss.

"Just illusions, Pearl," she whispered to herself, "they can't hurt you. Don't trust your senses. Feel your way with your mind."

Chanting a mantra under her breath, she made her way forward. If only Rose had been there to see her now, and be proud of how brave she had become. When she stopped to think about what it was that had given her such strength, she realised Rose could never have seen it anyway.

The font of strength she'd learned to tap came from a place inside her that hadn't been there before Steven. Mothering him had made her strong, and brave, and kind; everything she admired about Rose had come from Rose's last, greatest lesson, and been imparted onto her.

No matter how far into the lion's den she trod, the thoughts of Steven on her mind, his name on her lips and the phantasmal feeling of his delicate hand wrapped around hers gave her hope.

She steeled herself. The easy part, mastering her fear, was done. Now came the hard part.

As if reacting to the changes in her mind, the darkness parted, revealing a small, dim light in the distance. It pulsated, like a heartbeat, and every pulse sent ripples outward through the fog. Instinctively, Pearl realised it was her destination.

She began to make her way towards it. At first, her footing was sure and steady, but the closer she came to the source of the light, the more marshy and untenable the floor became. Soon she was mired up to her waist in what felt like tar, a black sludge that clung to every inch of her skin and scalded her to the bone.

Still, she reached out for the strength to carry on. Not just to thoughts of Steven, but to Garnet, and Amethyst, and Rose. To Earth, and all its people, and all the friends she'd loved and lost. Most of all, she pleaded to herself, scouring every inch of herself for what few vestiges of power she still held.

As she sank deeper into the mire, slowly losing consciousness, she touched on a memory of a time in the recent past that harkened back to better days.

* * *

><p>"Hey, weirdo, whatcha up to?"<p>

Pearl frowned, ears perking up and then drooping. She knew that tone of voice too well.

"None of your business." She fell back in her chair, frustrated and ready to give up. "It's not like you're ever of any help besides."

"Aww," the familiar voice chimed back, "just try me! Maybe you're the one who's stupid for a change!"

"Fine." Pearl's frown quickly morphed into a mischievous grin, and she slyly clasped her hands behind her back. Turning to face her visitor, she put on her most innocent face and, in an angelic singsong, said, "Can you change Steven's diaper for me?"

Predictably, the other reacted in total disgust.

"What?!" Amethyst cried, too caught up in surprise to express amusement at the idea of Pearl even acknowledging the existence of diapers, let alone changing one. "No way! You're kidding me, right?"

"Why would I do that?" Now Pearl's expression changed to one of almost sincere befuddlement. "Besides, you offered. Why wouldn't I take you up on your kind offer?"

"Ugh!" Amethyst's retching looked almost real. If a Gem could expel vomit, Pearl was sure Amethyst would have. "It was just a joke! I'm not gonna touch that icky thing! There's..."

Amethyst stopped, face twisting and scrunching in horror as it desperately tried to cope with the sheer number of feelings Amethyst was trying to express. All of them revolted.

"Poop. In it."

"Oh, is there?" Now Pearl wore a mask of pure shock. Behind it she could barely stop herself from laughing. The thought of human excrement terrified and disgusted her even more than it did Amethyst, but when she'd elected to take care of Steven (for the sole purpose of dissecting him, mind) she'd been well aware of the challenge she'd undertaken and she relished, in a way, the opportunity of surmounting them and restoring Rose to life.

Or, well, that was her reasoning. Anything to ease the nausea the baby gave her.

Up until now, Greg handled most of the chores related to human biological functions. Now, though, Steven was three months old, Greg wasn't available, and she'd been stuck with the dreaded nappy duty.

"I'd never guessed!" Pearl had to admit, Amethyst's reaction did leave her a little gobsmacked. How a Gem could be willing to eat food years past its expiration date, or even eat at all, was way beyond her. "Who would have thought baby sanitary underwear would have poop in it, of all things?"

"Yeah, yeah, be sarcastic, you nerd," Amethyst grumbled, gruffly setting herself at the table next to Pearl. "It's not like you're enjoying it. I can totally tell."

"No, I'm not," Pearl replied, still trying to figure out what to do with the dirty nappy. "But I suppose someone has to do it."

"Why not Greg? Just leave it on him until Greg gets back."

"Amethyst! That's dirty!" It was certainly the most awful thing Pearl had heard the other Gem suggest yet. "How could you even think of letting him stew in his own filth?"

"I do," Amethyst quipped in response, standing up and heading towards the Temple door. Pearl glared at her retreating backside.

"Yes, I know."

"Yeah, you do!" Amethyst pointed at her and grinned. "See ya, sister!"

Pearl didn't watch her go. She was torn between laughing and groaning at the other Gem's antics, but truth be told she wished she could follow Amethyst and leave the dirty duty to someone else.

The sound of the Temple door opening so soon after hearing it close caught Pearl's attention, and she looked up to see Garnet striding towards her, face plain and unreadable as ever.

"Gosh, Garnet, you surprised me," she laughed nervously. "I didn't think you were home. What's up?"

"Nothing at all," and with that cryptic remark, Garnet walked out the front door.

"Huh." Pearl puzzled that one out for a moment, and then returned to her work.

Steven had been very quiet. She'd gotten used to the boy's generally affable attitude, and certainly compared to other human babies he was practically a saint, but on this his total lack of cooperation did her no favours. He appeared completely uninterested in the whole process of sanitation, preferring to lie there with bits happily exposed to the entire world. If at any point he urinated on her, as the babies did in all the instructional films she'd seen, she'd kill him, for sure.

Idly she poked at the gem embedded in his belly. It tinkled a little, but otherwise remained still and lifeless as ever. She wondered if it would ever shine with the brilliance it had once displayed again. Its lustre had been the pride of an entire people, and now it barely even sparkled.

"Oh, Rose," she sighed, laying her hand on Steven's face, "we miss you so much. Won't you come back?"

Her quiet contemplation turned to sudden shock when Steven reached up and took one of her fingers in both hands. In spite of how tiny and useless his fleshy pink digits seemed, they curled around hers with a strength totally belied by his pudgy pink appearance.

They were soft and warm. Nothing she'd ever touched in her life had been so soft or warm as this. Not even Rose.

She met his eyes, and for a moment, they twinkled, brighter than any gem had ever shone in the history of the universe. In them she could see all the unsolved mysteries of life, and space, and reality itself. Most of all, she saw Rose, familiar and yet different, teeming with unbound energy and potential.

Then he let go of her finger, and the magic was gone.

She shook her head vociferously, willing all the thoughts in her head to disappear, and found it very easy to return to detesting the boy when he finally did his part and peed in her face.

* * *

><p>"Steven," Pearl sobbed, and with the last of her strength, as her head sank beneath the mire, she reached out for the soft light shining in the distance.<p> 


End file.
